Vivendi: Lich King due this year

In its latest round of financial results, Blizzard owner and future Activision mergee Vivendi Games has said that Wrath of the Lich King is "scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008".

However, when contacted for comment, a Blizzard spokesperson told Eurogamer that the company had not announced a release date for the second World of Warcraft expansion, and would neither confirm nor deny Vivendi's statement.

Having played it last week, we agree with Vivendi: Lich King is in better shape than previous expansion The Burning Crusade was at a similar time, and we expect it to come out before the end of the year.

However, with Blizzard's famous perfectionism and "ready when it's ready" attitude, anything is possible. Burning Crusade eventually launched in January 2007, and missing Christmas didn't do its sales any harm at all.

A 24 percent slump in Vivendi's first-quarter earnings for 2008, announced in this round of financial results, was blamed on the unfavourable comparison with the Burning Crusade launch. So, in promising a 2008 release for Lich King, the French publisher may just be hoping to make investors feel better.